Book 3. Lessons 37 to 54

Lesson 37. Andy McGann's

Submitted by gerry.gaffney on Sun, 02/22/2009 - 04:27

Not to be confused with "Andy McGann's Jig" (which we had in Lesson 19), this is a completely different tune.

It's one of the many compositions of the late New York fiddler Andy McGann. It is in the key of D, but on guitar Tony plays it in C, with the capo on the second fret.

This is the first tune in Book 3.

Listen to the lesson (AndyMcGanns.mp3, 12 minutes 50 seconds. 2.93 MB)

Lesson 38. The Ash Plant

Submitted by gerry.gaffney on Sun, 03/01/2009 - 00:46

This is a short reel, with 16 bars. It's in the key of E Minor, with two sharps in the key signature, which means it's in the E Dorian mode.

Tony sometimes refers to this as the "Irish Minor", and many Irish minor tunes use a Dorian mode.

Listen to the lesson (TheAshPlant.mp3, 13 minutes 57 seconds. 4.79 MB)

Lesson 39. Bernie Cunnion's

Submitted by gerry.gaffney on Sat, 03/07/2009 - 22:15

Technically not too demanding, this is a lovely tune, quite typical of the beautiful music that emanates from the hills and valleys of North Leitrim.

The recording on this podcast episode is from Tony's CD "The Maid At The Well". (You can purchase this CD, or individual tracks from it, on iTunes, Amazon, eMusic and other online music outlets. But don't purchase "Bernie Cunnion's", because it's free on the podcast!)

Tony's CD "An Sliabh Glas", is also now available online.

Tony's also put together a Guitar Chord Dictionary - a comprehensive book with over 2,100 chord shapes. It's available to download from www.irishguitarpod.com for a very reasonable US $20.

Listen to the lesson (BernieCunnion's.mp3, 12 minutes 59 seconds. 4.45 MB)

Lesson 40. Caisleán an Óir

Submitted by gerry.gaffney on Sun, 03/15/2009 - 01:54

Caisleán an Óir is a hornpipe.

This arrangement is in D Dorian, a type of D Minor, but without a Bb in the key signature.

The D Dorian has the same notes as the C Major Scale.

Listen to the lesson (CaislenAnir.mp3, 8 minutes 8 seconds. 2.79 MB)

Lesson 41. Charles O'Conor

Submitted by gerry.gaffney on Sun, 03/22/2009 - 05:25

This week we have another piece by the famous blind harper, Turlough O'Carolan.

Tony mentions "The complete works of O'Carolan", published by Ossian. This is currently out of print. He also mentions "My heart belongs to Jenny", by Duck Baker.

Listen to the lesson (CharlesOConor.mp3, 8 minutes 25 seconds. 2.89 MB)

Lesson 42. Cliffs of Moher

Submitted by gerry.gaffney on Sun, 03/29/2009 - 00:09

This week we have a lovely jig.

Tony talks about the use of overtones to enhance your playing, and which can be used to good effect in this tune.

Listen to the lesson (CliffsOfMoher.mp3, 11 minutes 41 seconds. 4.01 MB)

Lesson 43. Crib of Perches

Submitted by gerry.gaffney on Sun, 04/05/2009 - 08:33

Tony picked this tune up from the late Billy Moran. Billy was a button accordionist from Galway who migrated to Australia in the late 1940's and made an enormous contribution to the musical heritage of Australia.

The A, or first, part is played using the D Mixolydian Mode and the B or second part uses a D Ionian (or Major) mode.

Listen to the lesson (CribPfPerches.mp3, 14 minutes 13 seconds. 4.88 MB)

Lesson 43-and-a-half. Danny Boy

Submitted by gerry.gaffney on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 01:46

This is a bonus lesson, since it's not within the genre that we're studying. Rather, it's Tony's arrangement of Danny Boy, also know as The Londonderry Air.

It may be a bit daunting for the newcomer. Sheet music and tab notation are provided in Book 3.

Listen to the lesson (DannyBoy.mp3, 11 minutes 3 seconds. 3.79 MB)

Lesson 44. Echoes of Killarney

Submitted by gerry.gaffney on Sun, 04/19/2009 - 23:43

We return to our 'normal' program with a slide.

Listen to the lesson (EchoesOfKillarney.mp3, 9 minutes 2 seconds. 3.1 MB)

Lesson 45. Fisherman's Jig

Submitted by admin on Sun, 04/26/2009 - 23:29

The Fisherman's Jig is in fact a slip jig.

Slip jigs comprise only a small percentage of the Irish Music repertoire and you can attend session after session and not hear them at all. Tony often plays this with Na Ceannabhain Bhána (which we had in Lesson 16 in Book 1).

Listen to the lesson (FishermansJig.mp3, 7 minutes 25 seconds. 2.54 MB)

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